Near field communication (NFC) represents a set of short-range wireless standards for establishing radio communications between two communication devices within proximity of each other. Using electromagnetic radio fields, NFC allows two NFC-enabled devices to exchange information with each other without going through multiple connection procedures or alternatively physically connecting to each other.
Devices using NFC may be active or passive. A passive device, such as an NFC tag, contains information that other devices may read but the passive device does not read any information itself. Active devices may read and/or transmit information. Accordingly, an active NFC device may collect information from other active devices and/or from passive devices such as NFC tags and the active NFC device may also exchange information with other compatible devices.
As NFC utilization grows, there is a need for an apparatus and method for managing device operation using near field communication.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.